Information that may be of interest...March 25, 2019

The information in this eblast is provided by The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association. We are sharing the information as a service to our members. If this notice does not interest you, please disregard it.

You can also find these eblasts online in PDF (printable) format at www.murrayhillnyc.org in the News section, look for Weekly Eblasts 2018.

The MHNA Discount Program

Please be prepared to show proof of membership when you ask for a discount. New

Zumba Classes led by Talin Avakian on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm at the Armenian Evangelical Church, 152 East 34th Street (between Lexington & 3rd Avenue), First class free/$10 per class, group rates available, contact Talin at [email protected]. Changed

Shelburne Hotel, 303 Lexington Avenue (37th Street), for online reservations visit www.affinia.com/shelburne select Rate Preference "Best Available" and use Promo Code NEIGH for up to 20% off. Please show proof of membership when checking in.

Full list of discounts offered to MHNA members: Restaurant and Food Discounts General Discounts

For Murray Hill street closures, see Traffic Updates on www.murrayhillnyc.org. If you would like to join a committee, please send an email to [email protected]. Information about the MHNA committees can be found on www.murrayhillnyc.org. Click About > Committees.

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Murray Hill Photo Album

New Citibike stand on Lexington Avenue, corner of 36th Street. I have not seen more than 2 bikes at this stand.

New worksite on Lexington between 34th & 35th Street - is it Con Edison? This is not mentioned as a work site in the 2nd Avenue Infrastructure replacement project. We have a question in to our community liaison to try to find out why the streets are dug up at this location.

Upcoming events (that missed our last eblast)

Tuesday, March 26 6pm Panel discussion: Amazon’s Retreat: Good for ? Join The Henry George School for a lively panel discussion of the latest developments in the Amazon HQ2 deal and their potential impact on New York families and businesses. Panelists include credit/risk management expert Jeffrey Previdi, real estate insider Denise Favorule, anti- gentrification activist Dee Raymond, environmental/civil engineer Marty Rowland, and researcher Bridget Fisher. The panel presentations will be followed by a community Q&A. Register online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/amazons-retreat-good-for-new-york-tickets- 58652707828 at The Henry George School of Social Science 149 East 38th Street (between Lexington & 3rd Avenue)

April 10 6:30 - 8pm Land Use Planning Workshop FREE and open to the public. This workshop will cover the basics of land use planning in NYC. Participants will learn about the key players, regulations, and processes that influence development, and how the public can engage with them. Food and child care will be provided. Sponsored by City Council Member Keith Powers. RSVP required: Online: https://tinyurl.com/ cmpowers-lnp, email [email protected], Tel. 212-818-0580. Flyer. at Hunter College Glass Café, Hunter College West Building 912 Lexington Avenue (Southwest Corner of East 68th Street & Lexington Avenue)

Participatory Voting Week is March 30 - April 7. Help your Council District decide how to spend $1,000,000! Mark your calendar! Participatory Budgeting in (PBNYC) is a democratic, grassroots-driven process, in which community members like YOU directly decide how to spend at least $1 million in capital funds in participating Council Districts. From March 30th to April 7th, eligible residents across the five boroughs will cast their ballot to vote for the locally developed projects that they feel will best improve their community! Voting is open to everyone ages 11 (or at least in 6th grade) and older* who lives in one of the 32 participating Council Districts, regardless of immigration status, gender, race, ethnicity, or eligibility to vote in traditional elections. When voting opens on March 30, you can vote at the links below, or in person. For more information, including a list of items on the ballot for each district, click on the links.

District 2 - Carlina Rivera East Village, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, Lower East Side, Murray Hill, Rose Hill https://council.nyc.gov/carlina-rivera/pb/8/

District 3 - Corey Johnson Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Greenwich Village, West SoHo, Hudson Square, Times Square, Garment District, Flatiron, Upper West Side https://council.nyc.gov/corey-johnson/pb/8/

District 4 - Keith Powers Upper East Side, Carnegie Hill, Yorkville, Central Park South, Midtown East, Times Square, Koreatown, Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, Waterside Plaza, Tudor City, Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, Sutton Place https://council.nyc.gov/keith-powers/pb/8/

Voting is now open for the POPS (Privately Owned Public Spaces) Logo Design Competition Through April 2 12pm Visit the Competition Website, where you can view all 607 logos and vote for your favorite one. Members of the public may vote only ONCE for only ONE logo. The three logos that receive the most votes from members of the public will be incorporated into the seven-person panel selection process as if they were the selections of an additional eighth panel member. View and vote on logos at http://popslogo.nyc/ and click View Logos. Following the closure of the public voting period, a seven-person panel, along with the public vote, will select up to three awardees, each of whom will receive $2,000 and be honored at a public event. From these selected logos, DCP’s Director Lago may choose one to become the official New York City POPS logo, and that awardee will receive an additional $2,000. Awards are provided through a gift by Knoll. Awardees and the City’s choice for the official New York City POPS logo will be announced online on Monday, May 20, 2019.

New Smoke Detector Law Set To Go Into Effect In New York March 15, 2019, patch.com, by Michael Woyton This coming April 1 is the day a new law goes into effect that bans the sale or installation of any smoke detecting device that has a battery that can be replaced or removed. The law states that, as of April 1, any new or replacement smoke detectors in the state have to powered by a non- removable battery that lasts for at least 10 years, or it must be hardwired to the home's electricity, localsyr.com said. New smoke detecting units have a sealed lithium battery that people cannot take out...The New York State Association of Realtors, Inc., noted that the law does not require smoke detectors that are already in use to be in compliance, just ones that are being newly installed or replaced...

Pedestrian Safety in Murray Hill Source: Member Keith Powers Email Newsletter, March 15, 2019 Last month, a tragic crash in Murray Hill at the intersection of 37th Street and 3rd Avenue served as a harsh reminder of the work that still needs to be done to ensure the safety of pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists. In light of the accident, I am organizing a walkthrough of the area with the Department of Transportation and the NYPD to discuss improved safety measures. I had previously contacted DOT regarding traffic-calming measures to alleviate speeding within blocks of this accident. I am hopeful that this work will be expedited over the coming months. Additionally, my office has been addressing excess traffic in neighboring areas, specifically around the Queens Midtown Tunnel. In December, I worked with the NYPD and MTA to put up barricades on 37th Street between 2nd and 1st Avenues to reduce congestion. I have also requested the NYPD improve traffic agent coverage at 37th Street and 2nd Avenue to ensure increased safety. This will be an ongoing conversation, so I encourage you to reach out to my office with feedback. New School Zone at the River School, P.S. 281 Source: New York City Council Member Keith Powers Email Newsletter, March 15, 2019 In response to the concerns of the River School PTA, I recently worked with the Department of Transportation to restore a school zone sign on 35th Street, between 1st Avenue and the FDR Drive. DOT has also committed to making the block a slow zone (down to 20 MPH) over the next few months, which will positively impact safety. I want to thank Community Board 6 and area colleagues for their partnership in getting this done. Queens-Midtown Tunnel Construction Source: New York City Council Member Keith Powers Email Newsletter of February 11, 2019 I have heard from many residents in Murray Hill regarding the impact on quality of life based on ongoing construction of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. I recently met with the 17th Precinct, the NYPD Transportation Bureau, and NYC Bridges and Tunnels to discuss the honking problem near the tunnel. As a result, a new traffic pattern has been implemented during the hours when one lane of the south tube of the tunnel is closed for construction. Barricades have been placed at three locations during these construction times in order to limit the volume of cars traveling through the most congested area. Based on the feedback my office has received so far, this change has been successful in minimizing some of the congestion that causes noise. This will be an ongoing conversation, so I encourage you to reach out to my office with feedback on what you are seeing and hearing. [Editor's note: If you would like to comment on these changes, email [email protected].]

Photos of the opening of the Neiman Marcus store at Hudson Yards Honorary Trustee, Enid Klass, was invited to the preview opening of the Neiman Marcus store at Hudson Yards the day before the official opening of the public spaces on March 15. She has shared her photos with us. Note fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg in the third photo behind the shoe. Enid is on the Neiman Marcus VIP mailing list as former assistant to the president of Neiman Marcus. The event showcased the latest designer fashions, abundant drinks and hors d’oeuvres, music and entertainment (bands, ballet, etc.) throughout The Shops and Restaurants at Hudson Yards. Concierge staff guided the guests throughout the space. Neiman Marcus is the anchor store of The Shops at Hudson Yards. Hudson Yards also has office and residential buildings. Hudson Yards is being touted as the largest private development in NYC since Rockefeller Center, and everything is high end. It is bounded by Eighth and 12th Avenues, from 30th to 42nd Streets. The northern part is still to be developed. Photos by Enid Klass.

Related article: PHOTOS: Hudson Yards Debuts Shops, Restaurants, Public Spaces March 15, 2019, patch.com, by Brendan Krisel The new neighborhood on Manhattan's west side opened to the public Friday. Related article: Hudson Yards Is Manhattan’s Biggest, Newest, Slickest Gated Community. March 14, 2019, nytimes.com, by Michael Kimmelman, Architecture critic Is This the Neighborhood New York Deserves?

Related article: Hudson Yards’ Shops, Restaurants, And Thomas Heatherwick’s Iconic Sculpture Officially Open To The Public March 15, 2019, newyorkyimby.com, by Michael Young

Related article: Tech’s footprint in Hudson Yards March 15, 2019, cityandstateny.com, by Annie McDonough, First Read Tech email newsletter Today’s grand opening of the Hudson Yards mega-development is momentous for many New Yorkers, from the ultra-rich snatching up the development’s luxury apartments, to residents who will congregate at New York’s shiniest new mall. (Tourists planning on flocking to the observation deck will have to wait until its public opening next year). But project – 15 years in the making – will also be a space for New York’s burgeoning tech scene. In some ways, it already is: Sidewalk Labs, Alphabet’s urban innovation company, has been situated at since that building opened in 2016. Alphabet, which also happens to be Google’s parent company, is reportedly looking to the Hudson Yards development process – and in particular, at its bond financing model – as a blueprint for its plans to build Quayside, a new urban tech hub in Toronto. And then there are Hudson Yards’ new tenants, including WarnerMedia, which is located at . WarnerMedia’s new location is a microcosm of the contracting tech and media landscape, as employees from CNN, Time Warner, and HBO will all reside in the same space there. The AT&T- owned media and communications conglomerate says its new site has been designed for not only post-production on its original programming, but for its digital distribution platforms. Conceivably, that could include the WarnerMedia streaming platform that AT&T announced last fall. Hudson Yards’ gain also means that other locales are losing out on some of those jobs. HBO, for one, announced that it was closing its Long Island broadcast facility of 35 years – likely terminating 75 of the 200 jobs there and transferring some of the rest to 30 Hudson Yards. Related article: As Hudson Yards Rises, Broken Subway Escalators Make for Steep Climbs March 15, 2019, nymag.com, by Jose Martinez

Related article: Safety Fears Mar Hudson Yards' Grand Opening March 14, 2019, patch.com, by Brendan Krisel Hudson Yards' public spaces, shops and restaurants open Friday. NYC's firefighters union says the area needs its own firehouse.

Related article: Amazon’s Tax Breaks and Incentives Were Big. Hudson Yards’ Are Bigger. March 9, 2019, nytimes.com, by Matthew Haag In all, the tax breaks and other government assistance for Hudson Yards have reached nearly $6 billion, according to public records and a recent analysis by the New School. The city spent about $2.4 billion to extend the No. 7 subway line to Hudson Yards and set aside $1.2 billion for about four acres of parks and open spaces called Hudson Park and Boulevard. The City Council stepped up to pay $359 million in interest payments on bonds when revenue from the development, which was supposed to cover the tab, fell short of projections. As a result, Hudson Yards is perhaps an even more resonant symbol of the role of government in giving tax breaks and other incentives to spur development. In this case, two of the world’s largest real estate developers, Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, which together built Hudson Yards, have significantly benefited...“We are still giving tax breaks to a development that enriches billionaire developers and high-rise commercial and residential development that is not benefiting ordinary people in New York,” said James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policies at the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School.

Related article: condo a rare disappointment for Hudson Yards developer March 20, 2019, crainsnewyork.com, by Daniel Geiger Sales at Related Cos.' 520 West 28th Street have stalled amid shifting tastes in luxury market.

Related article: After Public Outcry, a Rewritten Photo Policy for Hudson Yards’ ‘Vessel’ March 18, 2019, www.bloomberg.com, by James Tarmy

Related article: The Jacob K. ’s Expansion Starts To Take Shape In Hudson Yards, Manhattan March 20, 2019, newyorkyimby.com, by Michael Young Construction on the new expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Center is taking shape very quickly. Steel columns, beams, and large diagonal trusses can easily be seen rising above the original building from the street and from across the Hudson River...The 1.2-million-square-foot section is being designed by tvsdesign at a cost of nearly $1.5 billion. This will increase the total area of the facility to 3.3 million square feet. The expansion will add an extra 22,000 square feet to what is already the largest green roof in New York City.

Changes in the neighborhood Rockefeller Group’s Art Deco- Inspired 30 East 29th Street Fully Unveiled In New Renderings, In NoMad March 6, 2019, newyorkyimby.com, by Michael Young Currently under construction is 30 East 29th Street, located in the heart of NoMad amongst a fever-pitch pace of condominiums and hotels sprouting up in the neighborhood. Designed by CetraRuddy Architecture, the project is being developed by the acclaimed Rockefeller Group. A teaser website has been released and new Art Deco-inspired renderings are also being unveiled for the first time. The building is also getting a new name for itself, called “Rose Hill.”...The property sits in a section of NoMad that was once home to a 130-acre estate called Rose Hill Farm. Today, it’s hard to imagine how the island of Manhattan was before the expansion of the Dutch settlement, the street grid, and the ever-growing amount of skyscrapers occupying nearly every block. As of now, the foundations and lower floors are currently under construction. When completed, Rose Hill will top out at 639 feet with 45 floors and 123 condominium residences. It will be one of the tallest buildings in the NoMad neighborhood, joined by other upcoming skyscrapers including 277 Fifth, 15 East 30th Street, the new Virgin Hotel, and Ritz-Carlton.

Glass Facade Climbs Up Hotel At 16 East 39th Street In Midtown Manhattan March 19, 2019, newyorkyimby.com, by Michael Young The facade work is progressing quickly on the upcoming 22-story Hyatt Centric Hotel at 16 East 39th Street...The...structure...will include 162 short-stay rooms, a restaurant and lounges on the ground floor, an appointed rooftop, and a rear courtyard. The new 244-foot-tall building will yield 77,858 square feet. Gene Kaufman Architect is the designer of the project...The site is actually a two- lot assemblage that was previously acquired by McSam Hotel Group...The site is located between Fifth and Madison Avenues...[and] is expected to be completed sometime this year. Photo of the base of 16 East 39th Street by Michael Young.

NoMad’s Virgin Hotel Tops Out At 1225 Broadway, Work On Podium Floors And Facade Continues March 12, 2019, newyorkyimby.com, by Michael Young The future Virgin Hotel at 1225 Broadway [at 30th Street] has officially topped out above NoMad. The 476-foot tall skyscraper has about 300,000 square feet of newly built space. The interiors will yield a 460-key hotel and 90,000 square feet of retail on the lower podium floors. Stantec is the designer of the glass skyscraper while Lam Group is the developer. Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group will be in charge of managing the hotel when completed.

250 Fifth Avenue Begins Vertical Ascent In Midtown Manhattan March 11, 2019, newyorkyimby.com, by Michael Young 250 Fifth Avenue [at 28th Street] is an upcoming 23-story, 230-foot tall building in Midtown. The future hotel conversion is being designed by Charles Platt of Platt Byard Dovell White Architects with Perkins Eastman as the architect of record. Empire Management is the developer of the NoMad site. The existing 111-year old, five-story exterior of the McKim, Mead & White building is being preserved and restored. The landmarked facade will sit next to the new structure.

Introduction to Franchising - Free online course Source: U.S. Small Business Administration This self-paced training exercise presents an overview of franchising, as well as how to determine if franchising is right for you, and how to choose the right one.Topics include defining franchising, pros and cons of owning a franchise, and how to determine if franchising is right for you. Duration: 00:30:00

Social Media Marketing - FREE online Course Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Are you using Social Media to help increase sales of your product or service? Do you lack the basic knowledge to take advantage of the incredible marketing reach that social media offers? This course is designed to show you how to utilize social media marketing to grow your business. You will learn research processes and strategies to help you harness the power of social media marketing. Duration: 00:30:00

Murray Hill in the news Attacker Beats Woman Unconscious In Kips Bay Apartment: NYPD March 18, 2019, patch.com, by Sydney Pereira Police are searching for two men connected with an assault that left a woman unconscious in the stairwell of a Kips Bay apartment building. KIPS BAY, NY — A man beat up a woman until she was unconscious in a Kips Bay apartment building earlier this month, police said. The attacker and a 30-year-old woman got into an argument inside an apartment building near 28th St. and Second Ave. about 11:45 p.m. on Wed., March 6, police said. Police said the woman was taken to a hospital for bruising and swelling on her face...the assailant was described [as] approximately 35-years-old, black with a slender build, 6-feet tall and 180 pounds with a southern accent wearing all camouflage. The second man, who dragged the woman to the stairwell, was described as a middle-aged black man wearing a red hoodie, blue jeans and a black jacket, police said. Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COMor by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

New York State Budget [Editor's note: The State budget is due on April 1. Now is the time when you'll see legislators discussussing taxes, spending, and also slipping legislation into the budget. This is understandable when the legislation will cost money or will generate revenues, but is this method inappropriate for legislation that should have a public discussion?]

MTA tries to sweeten the deal for congestion pricing skeptics March 21, 2019, politico.com, by Dana Rubinstein To win support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s congestion pricing proposal, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials are offering sweeteners to equivocating outer-borough and suburban politicians, POLITICO has learned. During a closed-door meeting with outer-borough lawmakers on March 6, MTA officials discussed allowing New York City residents cheaper access to the Long Island and Metro-North railroads that run through their districts, and subsidies for private, for-hire vehicle rides to and from subway stations in neighborhoods with poor public transportation options.

Why New York gives TV and film companies a $400 million break March 20, 2019, cityandstateny.com, by Annie McDonough As state budget negotiations reach a fever pitch ahead of an April 1 deadline, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is going off script. During a press conference on Tuesday, the governor raised the possibility of ending the state’s Film Tax Credit Program – which he has long supported...First introduced in 2004, New York’s tax credit program for film and television productions aimed to give producers a break to encourage some of Hollywood’s business to move east. When it started, the production film tax credit cost the state $25 million, but today, the program has ballooned to $420 million, prompting the question from critics: Are these tax credits actually bringing more productions to New York? Under the current version of the program, qualifying productions – films, television shows, television pilots and films for television, mostly – can receive a 30 percent credit for every dollar spent on production and post-production costs in New York. In most cases, this amounts to a 30 cent refund for every dollar spent on “below the line” costs, which include salaries for film crews, caterers and other jobs that exclude some of the higher-billed employees like actors, directors and screenwriters. Productions in Onondaga County and in other areas outside of New York City receive a credit of 40 cents for every dollar spent. In 2017, the state Legislature voted to extend the program through 2022...The $420 million spent on production tax credits per year is associated with an estimated $22.7 billion in spending and 1.4 million new hires by film and production studios in New York since 2011. Both production companies and the studios in-state benefit from the program. But most proponents of the tax credits will point to those “below-the-line” hires who make up production crews as the real beneficiaries.

Related article: New York lawmakers tell film industry that tax credits will keep rolling despite Cuomo’s call of ‘cut!’ March 21, 2019, nydailynews.com, by Denis Slattery State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) on Thursday rebutted Gov. Cuomo's claim that the Legislature would be OK with letting the popular incentives lapse. “This tax credit has a documented value year after year after year,” Krueger said during an interview with WNYC radio’s Brian Lehrer. “It’s working, and the Senate is certainly not proposing ending this credit.” “The only one who suggested ending it was the governor,” she added. Cuomo Admin Signals Reverse On Medicaid Cuts, Knocks Legislative Budgets March 13, 2019, nystateofpolitics.com, by Nick Reisman Top officials in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration on Wednesday signaled plans to reverse support for cutting the growth of Medicaid spending by $550 million in the state budget this year, citing President Donald Trump’s federal budget proposal released this week...The budgets proposed by Trump and state lawmakers are largely aspirational documents. Members of Congress have said Trump’s budget is “dead on arrival” and stands little chance of becoming law. Nevertheless, the Cuomo administration said it would treat the Trump plan as “serious as a heart attack.”...Cuomo last month amended his $175 billion budget to include a $550 million slow down in spending for Medicaid. The proposal was opposed by both hospital systems in the state as well as the politically influential labor union, 1199SEIU. But [budget director Robert] Mujica pointed to the federal budget action as requiring the state to “relook” at his own budget given the Trump proposal to curtail Medicaid spending. “We have to now work to shore up the hospitals and nursing homes and the health care side of the budget,” he said.

Bryant Park opposes Marijuana Legalization March 12, 2019, bryantpark.org, Bryant Park Blog In 1980, the year Bryant Park Corporation (BPC) was founded, Bryant Park was different than the beautiful, clean and vibrant gathering place it is today. Years of neglect and mismanagement had allowed it to become a dirty, dilapidated haven for drug dealers and users. Most people avoided it..Indeed, one of the founding missions of BPC was to clean up the drug situation and reclaim the park for New Yorkers and their families...It is with this in mind that we state our opposition to marijuana legalization in New York State, a proposal currently being discussed in Albany. We do not want to go back to the “bad old days.” ...With decriminalization, we already see the effect on city life. The waft of marijuana smoke, with its curiously obstinate aroma, pervades certain sidewalks in midtown constantly, and what was one of the city’s truly innovative ideas – converting three-street intersections into pedestrian plazas - has been marred by the domination of some public spaces by drug users...While we understand there are valid concerns about uneven enforcement, we believe that legalization coupled with prohibition of public use, often cited as a model, would be unfortunate. Simply put, 100 percent enforcement is nearly impossible...we already have difficulty enforcing the ban on cigarette smoking... [Editor's note: The controversial marijuana legalization may not be done as part of the budget, but there is a strong movement towards it. If you would like to weigh in on this issue, contact Governor Cuomo and your state Senator and Assembly Member. State Senator Liz Krueger's email [email protected], Assembly Member Dan Quart's email [email protected]]

Related article: Cuomo: Bill to legalize marijuana dropped from proposed budget March 19, 2019, newsday.com, by Michael Gormley [Governor] Cuomo said he no longer is including in his budget proposal revenue from the taxation of marijuana — which was to be dedicated to repair and improvements at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He said he has replaced it with revenue from a proposed pied-à-terre tax. If approved by the legislature, the surcharge would be applied to New York City condominiums and cooperative apartments worth more than $5 million, most of them owned by residents of other countries that use them for business and pleasure trips. Cuomo and legislative leaders said the marijuana matter still could be worked out after a budget is passed and before the end of the legislative session on June 19, although the complex issue could be more difficult to settle then.

(Opinion) New York needs public campaign financing now March 19, 2019, nydailynews.com, by Tom DiNapoli, New York State Controller Political campaigns have become a big money business and most political coffers are filled by a handful of big donors. That’s why we need campaign finance reform, including a public campaign financing system in New York...To their credit, the Assembly and Senate have already passed a robust package of campaign and ethics reforms. But without adopting a voluntary, small donor public campaign financing system that empowers more everyday New Yorkers to participate in our electoral process, true reform will be lacking.

Could New York City Get Real Casinos? State Leaders Are Listening March 20, 2019, nytimes.com, by Jesse McKinley With New York’s upstate casinos struggling, some state officials are considering the once unthinkable: putting casinos in New York City itself...The companies have proposed paying upstate casino operators about $100 million to counteract the loss of exclusivity — New York had agreed not to issue any more casino licenses until 2023. The three companies also have expressed a willingness to pay the state at least $500 million each to operate in the downstate market...But the governor seemed to recognize the potential of a New York City casino, suggesting that such a facility, if opened to competitive bidding, could drive up the price far higher than the $500 million each currently being floated by MGM and Genting.

Senate lays out their budget priorities (in 60 pages) March 12, 2019, timesunion.com, by David Lombardo

Assembly Budget Would Hike Taxes On The Rich March 12, 2019, nystateofpolitics.com, by Nick Reisman

City Charter Commission (City Council) Charter Revision Commission Hears Expert Testimony on Public Advocate's Office, Law Department, Ranked-Choice Voting March 19, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Samar Khurshid Charter Revision Commission Hears Expert Testimony on Conflicts of Interest and Chief Diversity Officer March 18, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Savannah Jacobson Charter Revision Commission Hears Expert Testimony on Voting, Redistricting and Campaign Finance Reform March 1, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Savannah Jacobson Charter Revision Commission Hears Expert Testimony on Police Accountability March 11, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Savannah Jacobson Charter Revision Commission Hears Expert Testimony on City Budgeting and Contracting March 13, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Samar Khurshid

(Opinion) Charter Revision Commission Needs a Hippocratic Oath March 18, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Carol Kellermann The entire New York City Charter, the city's foundational governing document, is on the operating table, and it is essential that the surgeons act with extreme caution...I urged the [Charter Revision Commission] members to follow two guiding principles in their deliberations: First, do no harm. ...With respect to finance and budgeting in particular, as a result of the fiscal crisis in the ‘70s and the enactment of the Financial Emergency Act in state law, New York City has the most transparent, professional, and sound fiscal management and budgeting process of any state or city in the country. Let’s not fix what isn’t broken. Second, limit charter revision to structural changes that can only be made through the charter.

Traffic and transportation Comptroller blocks de Blasio’s $84.5M East River ferry buyout March 20, 2019, nypost.com, by Nolan Hicks The de Blasio administration wants to sink another $84.5 million into the heavily subsidized East River ferry service by buying the fleet of boats from operator Hornblower — but the deal has raised so many red flags that the comptroller’s office [Comptroller ] has temporarily blocked it...Transit activists blasted the boat buy as another instance of the administration prioritizing the ferry fleet over the struggling bus system, which carries nearly two million people a day...All told, EDC [NYC Economic Development Corporation] officials have approved spending $582 million on the ferry service, related construction work and other costs so far. Lyft loses initial bid to block NYC minimum wage for drivers; judge to rule in 30 days March 18, 2019, nydailynews.com, by Marco Poggio and Leonard Greene Lyft’s path to an initial public offering hit a bump in the road Tuesday when a judge ruled against the ridesharing company’s bid to halt a new minimum wage for its New York City drivers...Judge Andrea Masley denied Lyft’s request to temporarily halt the $17.22 per hour minimum wage. She’ll rule within 30 days on whether to make her order permanent...The wage battle picked up speed as Lyft set a price range for its initial public offering, which could value the company at about $20 billion. Lyft predicted investors would buy the stock for between $62 and $68 a share. The company expects to raise as much as $2.1 billion through the sale of stock.

Census

The Census Bureau needs thousands of workers As of March 4, more than 170,000 recruits had already completed job applications to qualify for temporary census jobs and more than 800 had been hired. More will be hired through the year for jobs in the spring and summer of 2020. That’s when census workers knock on doors to interview people who don’t respond to the census. The first step is to complete the online job application. This process should take about 30 minutes and will include some assessment questions about your education, work, and other experience. Here’s what you’ll need to get started: Social Security number, Home address (physical location and mailing address), Email address and phone number, Date and place of birth. In addition, if you’re a veteran who would like to claim veterans’ preference, you will need supporting documentation. For more information, visit the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Veterans’ Preference page. If you run into issues during the application process, you can call 1-855-562-2020 and select option 1 for technical assistance or option 3 to speak with someone at your area census office. You can also refer to the frequently asked questions page https://2020census.gov/jobs/faqs.html. Apply at this link: https://recruitment.2020census.gov/ats/careersite/census.aspx? site=1&c=census

Affordability

Stuytown Lottery for affordable apartments Until April 3, qualified applicants can upgrade their living situation without paying a premium. If your pre-tax, combined household income falls between $89,250 and $185,955 for rents starting at $2,975 for a 1 bedroom and $3,695 for a 2 bedroom, you may qualify for an affordable StuyTown apartment. Upon approval, there are units ready for immediate move-in. Once you move in, the apartment is yours for the long term. Your circumstances and income may change but your home will not. There is no income recertification in the future. The Stuytown Lottery ends April 3, 2019. Kips Bay NYCHA Residents Want A Say In Who Will Manage Their Home March 19, 2019, patch.com, by Sydney Pereira The city is seeking a private partner to manage a Kips Bay NYCHA development, but residents want a say in which company is chosen. Under the New York City Housing Authority's strategy to upgrade public housing buildings and address a multi-billion dollar backlog of critical repairs, the city is establishing public-private partnerships to convert 62,000 units of public housing into privately managed buildings with Section 8 federal subsidies. The city says residents would continue paying 30 percent of their income on rent. One of those buildings is in Kips Bay, at 344 East 28th St. But residents want more of a say in who exactly the city chooses to manage their building...[Melanie Aucello, vice-president of the building's residents' association] added that residents would want to have a say in what type of social services are provided in the future by the private partner — another facet of the city's request for proposals...CB 6's housing committee is joining arms with NYCHA residents too. Monday night, the committee passed a resolution asking NYCHA to obtain a needs statement from tenant leaders in buildings undergoing Section 8 conversions, and to then use those statements to evaluate bids on the RFP. The resolution will be voted on at the full board meeting April 10...developer applications for NYCHA's RFP are due March 22... Homeless New Yorkers Are Spending More Time In Shelters Than Ever Before March 20, 2019, gothamist.com, by Mirela Iverac Not only are there more homeless New Yorkers today than compared to six years ago, but they’re staying in shelters an average three to four months longer than they used to, despite programs launched by Mayor Bill de Blasio to move them into permanent housing. Lawmaker Blasts ‘Poverty Pimps’, Pushes Back Against Plan To Open New Homeless Shelters March 18, 2019, newyork.cbslocal.com Councilman Eric Ulrich [representing]...sections of Brooklyn and Queens...helped hold a rally against the mayor’s plan [to open up New York homeless shelters throughout the city] last month, and says the city’s Department of Homeless Services and its commissioner Steven Banks need to develop a new plan that addresses the root cause of homelessness in New York City...This administration has failed to put forward real solutions that address the root causes of homelessness in this city, namely poverty and the lack of affordable housing...“While the Council member grandstands, we‘re busy helping people get back on their feet through a prevention-first borough-based approach, shrinking our footprint, connecting more than 109,000 New Yorkers to permanent housing, and driving evictions down 37 percent citywide to unprecedented lows,” said Department of Homeless Services spokesperson Isaac McGinn. New Legislation: Making It Cheaper to Rent an Apartment in New York City Source: New York City Council Member Keith Powers Email Newsletter, March 15, 2019 Last month, I introduced legislation to address the high cost of renting an apartment in New York City. Upfront move-in fees can result in a tenant having to pay over $14,000 at one time for a $3,300 per month apartment in Manhattan. This legislation is part of a 5-bill package I introduced with Council Member Rivera to combat the prohibitive costs associated with renting an apartment, which particularly affect young and lower-income New Yorkers. My legislation would cap both brokers’ fees and security deposits at one month’s rent. Currently, there are 25 sponsors on the broker fee bill in the City Council, and 26 on the security deposit bill.

(Opinion) Proposal Would Subvert Efforts to Address Affordable Housing Crisis March 13, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Jolie Milstein One of the greatest and most immediate challenges facing New York is a statewide affordable housing crisis that continues to affect millions of families. Elected officials must support and promote new legislation and policies that will help our state produce more affordable homes and, correspondingly, do no harm to much-needed housing efforts...But our state’s ability to address the affordable housing crisis is now at risk of being undermined by new legislation that proposes to expand the definition of public work and the application of the prevailing wage mandate to private construction projects – including low-income housing developments – based on the public subsidies they rely upon to be built. As an organization whose members deeply believe in supporting the needs of low- and middle-income New Yorkers, we also believe in good, fair wages for all workers. But the wide application of prevailing wage, which is far in excess of the median wage and can raise construction costs by 25 percent or more, is not actually a path to higher pay for construction workers. In fact, it is certainly a way to ensure there are fewer jobs, fewer new developments, and fewer affordable homes for New Yorkers.

The New 30-Something March 2, 2019, nytimes.com, by Hannah Seligson Have you or haven’t you cut the financial cord with your family? It’s the financial riddle of the 30-something years. How does anyone, even those with a stable, upwardly mobile job, let alone a family, afford to live in places like New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco or Washington, D. C.? The answer: Many are bankrolled, to varying degrees, by their parents.

Preservation & landmarks Chrysler Building May Be Redeveloped As Hotel, Reports Say March 15, 2019, patch.com, by Brendan Krisel MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The new owner of Midtown Manhattan's iconic art-deco skyscraper the Chrysler Building might convert a portion of the tower into a hotel, according to reports. Developer Aby Rosen told Bloomberg that he is considering redeveloping the Lexington Avenue tower. Rosen's firm RFR Holdings reached a deal with Tishman Speyer and an Abu Dhabi government fund to buy the Lexington Avenue skyscraper for a little more than $150 million...the building's lobby is a protected landmark...The Chrysler Building's sale to RFR Holdinds represents a huge loss for the sellers, which bought a controlling stake in the tower for $800 million in 2008...The aging skyscraper's troublesome ground lease is likely the reason for its underwhelming performance on the sales market, the Real Deal reported. The Chrysler Building's owners are required to pay landowner Cooper Union $32.5 million and the rent will increase to $41 million in 2028, real estate publication the Real Deal first reported. Tin Pan Alley, popular music’s birthplace, could become NYC landmark March 13, 2019, ny.curbed.com, by Zoe Rosenberg Five buildings on Manhattan’s historic Tin Pan Alley will be considered for landmark status after fielding years of threats from developers. The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to calendar the stretch, which means there will be a hearing for the historic buildings and a public meeting at which the commission will vote for or against the designation. The row of Nomad townhouses at 47-55 West 28th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway is considered the birthplace of American popular music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries owing to the area’s high concentration of sheet music publishers at the time. A new initiative: a city-wide Cultural Medallion Day in Spring 2020 To commemorate The 55th anniversary of the passage of the NYC landmarks law, the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center is announcing a new initiative: a city-wide Cultural Medallion Day to undertake multiple Cultural Medallion dedications on one day in spring 2020. Cultural Medallions are commemorative plaques placed on buildings where notable New Yorkers once lived. The plaques describe the accomplishments of an artist, poet, musician, business person, activist, scientist, lawyer, doctor, dancer, or leader in his or her field, who has made a substantive contribution to their neighborhood, the city, the nation, or even the world. The HLPC is seeking worthy nominees from all five boroughs of New York City. The HLPC is also encouraging organizations to partner with them for this Cultural Medallion Day. If you know of a notable New Yorker you think worthy of commemoration please submit your suggestion at http://www.hlpcculturalmedallions.org/suggest-a-medallion or email [email protected]. If you would like to participate by assisting in any way, please contact Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Chair, Historic Landmarks Preservation Center, email [email protected], tel. 212-861-4641. Flyer

Schools Students applying to public high schools in New York City finally got their notifications about the first round of admissions, later than in previous years. Lawmakers Back 3-Year Extension of Mayor’s Control of Schools March 12, 2019, wsj.com, by Leslie Brody

Meatless Mondays are students' vegetarian reality in the 2019-2020 school year March 11, 2019, amny.com, by Lisa L. Colangelo Mayor Bill de Blasio and city Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza...announced the launch of systemwide “Meatless Mondays” for the 2019-20 school year...Officials said the practice is healthier for students and the environment. Here's How NYC's Grad Schools Rank Among Top Programs: US News March 12, 2019, patch.com, by Adam Nichols U.S. News & World Report has released its rankings of the best grad schools for 2020.

Government, legislation, rules, policies (including pending) Speed Cameras Will Surround Every New York City Public School March 19, 2019, nytimes.com, by Vivian Wang The location of each camera will be determined by the city’s Department of Transportation. City officials said they expected every school to be covered by the expansion. The bill also widens the radius of a school zone and allows the cameras to be active for longer hours each day. Currently, the cameras can operate from an hour before school until an hour after; under the new law, they could operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m...Between 2014 and 2017, New York City’s speed camera program brought in $83 million in net revenue. Proponents have always emphasized that the cameras were intended to improve public safety, not generate money.

How Bad Is NYC's Vacant Storefront Problem? Council Wants To Know March 19, 2019, gothamist.com, by Sam Raskin With a perceived uptick in vacant storefronts in parts of the city...the City Council’s small business committee held a hearing Monday to consider a package of proposals to address the growing problem. Legislation discussed at the hearing included bills to require that landlords report storefront vacancies to the city and provide legal assistance to small businesses facing eviction— though not the contentious Small Business Jobs Survival Act, which had its own hearing last fall —with local elected officials and advocates mostly expressing positive sentiments about the proposed reforms. One of the bills discussed Monday, Intro 1473, would mandate commercial landlords submit properties that become vacant to the city Department of Small Business Services, imposing a penalty of a $1,000-per-week fine on property owners who fail to do so. Another, Intro 1472, would mandate that the city compile a storefront-properties online database, which would include information on rent, size and permitted use. These bills are intended to begin to address “high-rent blight,” where local businesses leave retail spaces because they can no longer afford their landlords’ asking price, and end up not being replaced...a registry would be an “important part of the effort” of passing a vacancy fee, a state-level policy the de Blasio administration is pushing...“We haven’t removed a single requirement or a burden on small business. We’ve only added in the last four years,” [the City Council’s small business committee chair Mark Gjonaj] said, ticking off paid leave, the minimum wage, health care costs, and fines for trivial infractions like sign lettering as difficulties for less well-capitalized businesses... City Council Examines De Blasio's 'New York Works,' Said to Have Produced 3,000 Jobs of 100,000 Goal March 19, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Pranshu Verma [J]obs are only counted towards the mayor’s 100,000 goal if they are created as a direct result of the five-point strategy laid out in the jobs plan, known as “New York Works.” The plan focuses on investing in city-owned property, providing tax incentives to small and large businesses, making infrastructure investments, using zoning tools, and directly investing in companies that can bring 21st century jobs to New York City. About $1.3 billion in capital funding has been allocated to New York Works, with about $300 million already spent...

Stories we are following

(opinion) In big tech’s future expansion plans, public good should be the corporate incentive March 19, 2019, techcrunch.com, by Yung Wu Increasingly, communities are demanding that tech companies bring more to the table than they take. Locals want them to stimulate the local economy and fortify startup ecosystems rather than hire away people and raise housing prices. After all, talent is the most precious resource in the digital economy, and if cities nourish it, the tech firms will come naturally...Amazon’s move will, I suspect, come to be seen as the high-water mark for Big Tech hubris. There are enormous benefits to a city in attracting major tech firms – the name-recognition alone acts as a signal to investors and engineers that interesting things are happening there. But, in the future, I believe we will see far fewer attempts to create vast corporate campuses with helipads, and more effort to integrate into the existing ecosystem.

The rise and fall of the asshole startup March 15, 2019, cityandstateny.com, by Annie McDonough Uber drove circles around would-be regulators. That doesn’t work anymore. New York City Council was going to propose a cap on [Uber's] vehicles...That was in the early summer of 2015, back when daily trips using ride-hailing apps in New York City were still outnumbered by yellow taxi rides by a ratio of 4-to-1, but were on their way to surpassing taxi rides – something that would happen by the end of 2016.The vehicle cap ultimately didn’t pass that summer, striking a decisive win for the company that paved the way for its rapid growth. In July 2015, de Blasio dropped the proposed cap after growing dissent from City Council members and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. At that time, roughly 21,000 unique vehicles were associated with Uber. By the end of 2018, that figure more than tripled to roughly 77,000. But last year, a cap on new licenses for app- based ride-hailing vehicles passed in the New York City Council as part of a package of other bills regulating the ride-hailing industry, including a new minimum pay rate for drivers. The measure imposed a moratorium on new for-hire vehicles for one year while the city studies ride-hailing vehicles – which now number more than 100,000 – and their effect on traffic congestion...New York regulators are also taking startups like Uber and Airbnb more seriously now because of their ability to disrupt established industries...Standing out from competitors Lyft and Via, Uber had weathered innumerable scandals that ran the gamut from rude, sometimes sexist, behavior from top executives and managers, to outright unethical practices... New York was one of the first cities where people used Airbnb after its founding in 2008, and in that early environment, it was able to slip in relatively unnoticed by policymakers, much in the same way that Uber did in 2011...Like Uber, Airbnb was then a startup whose potential to disrupt established industries [such as the hotel industry] was unknown...Today, Airbnb’s footprint has expanded to include more than 50,000 listings in New York City, and the company is embroiled in a yearslong battle at both the city and state level to establish a proper regulatory framework...the company is pushing a bill it helped write, sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, that wouldn’t require [detailed address information about their hosts], but would allow Airbnb to collect the same taxes that hotels usually do, limit hosts in New York to listing one unit on the website and require hosts to register with a state agency...Airbnb’s critics argue that the Lentol bill doesn’t go nearly far enough in protecting the city’s dwindling supply of affordable housing from landlords who use the service to profit by operating illegal hotels... One emerging field that has cultivated a particularly cozy relationship with government is transportation alternatives like e-bikes and e-scooters. Some of the largest e-bike companies are participating in a concentrated pilot program to deploy their dockless bikes – both traditional and pedal-assisted e-bikes – in outer-borough neighborhoods... Mayor de Blasio Vowed to Create 100,000 Jobs. The Truth? No One Really Knows. March 17, 2019, nytimes.com, by Jeffery C. Mays The jobs proposal is the third major initiative from Mr. de Blasio, each totaling close to a billion dollars or more, that is being scrutinized as the city deals with declining tax revenues and a directive to cut at least $750 million from the preliminary budget...the [NYC] Council’s Oversight and Investigations Unit will hold a hearing regarding New York Works [de Blasio's job program], with James Patchett, the head of the city Economic Development Corporation expected to testify...The economic agency’s role is to be a catalyst and to help partners create jobs, they said, adding that they planned to offer a more detailed accounting in the future. “These jobs aren’t conjured out of thin air,” said an agency spokeswoman, Stephanie Baez. “You have to build buildings, train workers, and invest in students. That’s the work we are doing right now.”...“Why shouldn’t the city be expected to account for resources provided to the business community in order to spur job growth and local hiring?” asked Joey Ortiz, executive director of New York City Employment and Training Coalition. (Opinion) Negotiation Lessons from the Amazon Deal Blow- Up March 9, 2019, gothamgazette.com, by Robert Bordone & Daniel Garodnick

How lobbying works in NYC March 11, 2019, cityandstateny.com, by City & State A breakdown of how firms try to sway city government Who owns this town? Real estate does – and they do it with lobbyists...when lobbyists want to get clients’ message into officials’ ears, whose ears are those, exactly?...what is it they want to influence? Local legislation is a substantial piece, [and deterination regarding real property], but far and away the biggest chunk goes toward deciding what makes it into the city budget.

Uber puts its money behind congestion pricing March 14, 2019, cityandstateny.com, by Annie McDonough, First Read Tech email newsletter Uber has spent $1 million since last November in its campaign to help pass congestion pricing. Most recently, the ride-hail company funded an ad from the advocacy group Fix Our Transit that ran into the mid-six figures.

Report: No need for gas pipeline under New York Harbor March 19, 2019, crainsnewyork.com, Matthew Flamm The fight over a proposed 24-mile natural gas pipeline extension through lower New York Bay heated up Tuesday with the release of a report ["False Demand: The Case Against the Williams Fracked Gas Pipeline," from the environmental group 350.org] ...an anti-global-warming organization that argues the need for the controversial project has been overstated. Alternatives, such as conservation and new technologies, have been overlooked, the report said. Town by town, local journalism is dying in plain sight March 10, 2019, stltoday.com, by David Bauder and David A. Lieb, Associated Press Associated Press Business writer Alexandra Olson in New York and video journalist Peter Banda, from Waynesville, contributed to this report. [A]ll newspaper owners face a brutal reality that calls into question whether it’s an economically sustainable model anymore...Newspaper circulation in the U.S. has declined every year for three decades, while advertising revenue has nosedived since 2006, according to the Pew Research Center. Staffing at newspapers large and small has followed that grim trendline: Pew says the number of reporters, editors, photographers and other newsroom employees in the industry fell by 45 percent nationwide between 2004 and 2017...Beyond the emotions are practical concerns about the loss of an information source...Dotted across the country are exceptions to the brutal new rule, newspapers that are surviving with creative business plans...Philanthropy is supporting other efforts to fill gaps created by journalism’s business struggles...“We need to go back to what was done in the late 1800s — being everywhere at every event, telling everyone what the sirens were about last night,” [Darrell Todd Maurina’s, who has a Facebook site, which he calls the Pulaski County Daily News] said.

Robo-journalism gains traction in shifting media landscape March 9, 2019, sg.news.yahoo.com, by Rob Lever A text-generating "bot" nicknamed Tobi produced nearly 40,000 news stories about the results of the November 2018 elections in Switzerland for the media giant Tamedia -- in just five minutes...A similar automated program called Heliograf has enabled The Washington Post daily to cover some 500 election races, along with local sports and business, since 2014...Bloomberg's computerized system called Cyborg "dissects a company's earnings the moment they appear" and produces within seconds a "mini-wrap with all the numbers and a lot of context"...Studies appear to indicate consumers accept computer-generated stories, which are mostly labeled as such.

Consumer alerts and scams

Protect yourself against fake IRS calls You’ve probably gotten one of these calls: They say it’s the IRS and they’re filing a lawsuit against you for back taxes. They may threaten to arrest or deport you. What do you do? Watch this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7U1k7bumDA

Editor's note: Scam Calls - It happened to me (several times in one day) On March 15 I got several calls that appeared to come from Verizon - they displayed the correct telephone number for Verizon on the caller ID and showed "VERIZON" as the caller. When I responded, I heard a recorded voice saying that my account was suspended and information needed to be verified. I suspected that it was a spam call and hung up. Then I called Verizon from my phone to a number I knew to be correct, and they told me that they have been hearing about a massive amount of spam calls like this. Calls are also going to AT&T and Sprint customers. The person I spoke with at Verizon said that all of the companies are working to stop the calls but it may take some time. The calls are orignating from a foreign country, which means the federal government also must be involved. The calls go to voice mail if not answered. Verizon said to always hang up and don't give out any personal or financial information. The spammers will try to get your credit card number and other information. Protect Yourself Against Medicare Scams Source: Federal Trade Commission March 15, 2019, by Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, Attorney, FTC, Division of Consumer & Business Education Are you getting calls from people claiming to be from Medicare, asking for money or personal information? Watch this video about how you can protect yourself from Medicare scams: https://youtu.be/51I-szr0JEY

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